


There's a House in the Woods

by boredomsMuse



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Haha this is angst, Kinda, M/M, Sad Ending, also there is death, anyway, but if peeps think i should i will, but its not techinically in this, have fun with this, i hope you cry, its offscreen, like pure angst, so i didn't tag it as a warning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 06:25:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12575704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boredomsMuse/pseuds/boredomsMuse
Summary: Shiro first sees Lance in a tree, on a perfect day in an empty park.  Something isn't right.





	There's a House in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> So the shance discord did a Trick or Treat, and i got bleh, and bleh gave me free reign, and had no preference on happy vs sad end. And so bleh gets an angst filled shance fic with a sad end.  
> This is 100% not the first idea i had, or the second, or the third but i think it turned out pretty well.
> 
> Hope you like it Bleh!

“I don’t think you should be doing that.”  Shiro almost immediately regretted his words as the boy startled, almost falling from the high branch he’d perched himself on.  “I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to startle you!”  He panicked, rushing over even though the stranger had already caught himself.  Blue eyes stared down at him in shock, the boy completely silent, and Shiro wondered if maybe he’d hit his head.  “Are you alright?”

 

“I’m… I’m fine.”  The boy said, shaking a daze from his head.  A smile formed on his face, natural and perfect and Shiro felt his heart skip a beat, he felt like a weight had lifted off his shoulders and he was finally coming home.  Shiro didn’t understand it.  “You didn’t startle me too much.”

 

“Still, it can’t be safe to be sitting up there.  You’d break your neck if you fell.”  Shiro warned.

 

“You’re right.”  The boy said, making his way down the tree and looking practically effortless as he did so.  “I’m Lance.”  He introduced as he dropped before Shiro.

 

“Shiro.”  The taller of returned, holding out his hand.  Lance hesitated a moment before taking it.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

 

“What’s a handsome man like you doing walking alone on such a fine day?”  Lance asked with a confident smirk.  Shiro felt his face flush.  He rubbed the back of his neck, stuttering a moment before he found the answer.

 

“Just wanted some fresh air.”  He said.

 

“Want some company?”  The brown-haired man hummed.

 

“I’d love some.”  Shiro agreed, doubting he’d ever be able to say no to that smile.  Lance fell into step with him and they continued through the town park.  It was a perfect day, yet they seemed the only ones there.  Shiro hardly noticed, too engaged in conversation and laughter with Lance.  He wasn’t sure how many times they lapped the park but they didn’t stop until the sun began to slip away.

 

“I should be getting home.”  Shiro realized, watching as the shadows grew and not wanting to leave.  Lance’s face fell.  “What’s wrong?”

 

“I don’t really have anywhere to go,”  Lance answered after a moment.

 

“What do you mean?”  The taller frowned, looking over to the boy with concern.

 

“Well, why do you think I was in the tree?”  Lance tried to joke.  “I’m, uh, I’m in between places to stay right now.”

 

“You can stay with me.”  Shiro offered without thinking.  That was a dangerous offer, he realized when his words caught up with him.  Even so, Shiro felt no desire to back out.  He was sure Lance wasn’t dangerous, and not just because they were so physically different.  It was odd to be so sure he could trust a complete strange, Shiro wasn’t usually so trusting.

 

“Are you sure?”  Lance asked, looking a little hopeful.

 

“Of course, I’ve got the room,”  Shiro assured.  “Come on, my house is this way.”  He led Lance from the park, down the streets, around to his house.  He didn’t notice Lance hardly seemed to be following him.

 

 

“It’s a really nice house,”  Lance commented when they arrived, sitting on the front porch.  “Fits right in.”  He added, quieter, as he eyed the house next to him.  They were practically identical, all the houses on his street were.  Still, for a moment the uniformity of his neighbours seemed strange, wrong… Shiro shook the feeling from his head and focused on getting inside.

 

“I like it.”  He smiled.  “It’s a nice neighbourhood.”  Lance nodded, following Shiro into the house.  For a moment, the blue-eyed boy’s breath seemed to catch.  He looked around as Shiro placed his keys in the bowl by the door.  “The guest room’s down here.”  He began to move, turning back only when he realized Lance wasn’t following.  Instead, he was eyeing the house with a sense of awe and… and something else Shiro couldn’t name.

 

“Right, led the way,”  Lance said when he realized Shiro was watching, a smile suddenly back on his face.  Brushing the strange behaviour off, Shiro did just that.  The guest room was a small, neat room on the top floor, next door to the houses third bedroom.  Lance gave it a quick once-over before taking a seat on the bed, sighing contently.

 

“You’re free to stay here as long as you need Lance,”  Shiro told him.  “The bathroom’s just down the hall and, if you need anything, my rooms on the other side of the house.”

 

“Whose bedrooms that one?”  Lance asked, gesturing towards the one they’d passed.  The door must’ve been open.

 

“My brothers,”  Shiro answered after a too long moment, the answer taking a moment to grasp.

 

“Is he home?”  Again, the answer seemed just out of reach for just too long.

 

“No, Keith’s on holiday.”

 

“Oh cool.  Where’d he go?”  His tone was causal but Shiro felt like he was missing something.  Like Lance knew something he didn’t, and wasn’t telling him.

 

“I’m not sure,”  Shiro admitted when he gave up trying to grasp the answer.  All at once it felt on the tip of his tongue and far away.  “I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”  He joked.  Lance nodded slightly, slipping into a heavy silence.  Shiro waited at the door, waiting for whatever it was Lance was planning on saying.

 

“Shiro,” he started, suddenly sounding so much more nervous, “how’d you find me?”

 

“What do you mean?”  Shiro frowned slightly.  This time it was Lance that needed a moment to think before he answered.

 

“I, uh, I thought I was tucked away too high for anyone to see.  I was just wondering what I did that gave me away.”  Lance explained, his words a little shaky and unsure at first.  Shiro dismissed the odd tone.

 

“Nothing.”  He answered.  “I just looked up and there you were.”

 

“Right.”  Lance nodded, taking a deep breath before he looked up at Shiro.  “Thanks again Shiro, sleep well.”

 

“Sleep well, Lance.”  Shiro nodded, shutting the door and heading towards his own room.  He was asleep almost the moment his head hit his pillow. 

 

\--

 

The next morning, Shiro was happily surprised to wake well-rested.  A perk in his step, he headed downstairs to find Lance sitting on one of the kitchen stools.  The sight made him feel downright giddy, though Shiro couldn’t quite figure out why.

 

“Good morning.”  He hummed.  “Sleep well?”

 

“Morning.”  Lance yawned, making Shiro chuckle.  Lance wasn’t really a morning person.  “I slept fine, you?”

 

“I slept great.”  Shiro bragged, grabbing a glass and filling it with tap water.  He missed the way Lance winced as he drank it down.  “What do you want to do today?”

 

“We could go to the movies,”  Lance suggested, the answer sounding almost rehearsed.   “I’ve been dying to see the new Guardians movie.”

 

“Didn’t that come out ages ago?”  Shiro asked, trying to recall the answer.

 

“Probably.”  Lance agreed, his answer just confusing Shiro further.  He tried to figure it out for a moment before shaking his head and dismissing the confusion.

 

“We’ll check if it’s still on, if not I’m sure there’s something else we can watch.”  He decided.

 

“Great!”  Lance smiled.  “My boyfriend was meant to take me, but we never got a chance.”

 

“You have a boyfriend?”  Shiro asked, not sure how to decipher the way the news made him feel.

 

“Yeah.”  Lance grinned.  “He’s great, easily an eleven with literally the best abs.”  He described, practically swooning.  Shiro felt himself flushing.  He was getting sick of not understanding his own reactions.  “And he’s really sweet, any boy that lets you into his secret chocolate stash because you’re crying is the worth marrying I reckon.”  He added, laughing lightly.

 

“He can’t be that great if he promised to take you to the movies and never did,”  Shiro claimed, though Lance was shaking his head before he even finished the sentence.

 

“That wasn’t his fault,”  Lance argued.  “I did something stupid.”

 

“It couldn’t’ve been that bad.”

 

“Oh, it was,”  Lance claimed.  “Like, life or death stupid.”  Shiro frowned, but let the subject drop.  He had another glass of water before they left.

 

 

“Look at that, must be our lucky day,”  Shiro said, eyeing the screen times for Guardians of the Galaxy 2.  He’d been sure the film had been out of the cinemas for a while but not only was it playing, they were just in time.

 

“Must be.”  Lance agreed, following Shiro towards the ticket booth.  They really must’ve been lucky, there wasn’t even a line.

 

“Two for Guardians of the Galaxy please.”  Shiro requested, unable to keep the smile off his face.  He paid with his card before taking the tickets on the booth counter.  He didn’t even suggest the snacks stand, leading Lance into the cinema marked on their ticket.  It was empty, leaving them with the perfect seats right there for the taking.  It was only as they sat down that Shiro realized he was holding Lance’s hand.  He flushed, letting go quickly and clearing his throat.

 

“Looking forward to this?”  He asked.

 

“Yeah.”  Lance nodded.  “Have you seen it already?”

 

“No,”  Shiro answered.

 

“Why not?”  Lance asked, tone a touch hopefully.

 

“I don’t know.”  Shiro frowned.  “It just never seemed like the right time.”

 

“And now is?”  Lance prompted, definitely sounding hopeful this time.

 

“I think it is.”  Shiro smiled over at him as the ads began to play.  “Is it alright that you’re seeing it with me, not your boyfriend?”

 

“It’s perfect.”  Lance smiled back, taking Shiro’s hand once more before turning his attention to the screens.  Shiro settled in his chair comfortably, not thinking to let go of the hand fitting so perfectly in his.  A few ads later, Lance spoke up again.  “How did you find me?”  He asked, quietly.  Shiro frowned slightly.

 

“I told you last night.  I just looked up and there you were.”  He answered. 

 

“Right, I forgot,”  Lance said, smiling sheepishly.  He went to untangle their hands but Shiro grasped a little tighter.  He stopped as soon as realized what he’d done, but couldn’t help but be relieved Lance didn’t continue trying to pull away.

 

 

“That was hilarious!”  Lance announced as they left the cinema, still laughing over teenage Groot.

 

“Worth the wait?”  Shiro asked, regretting it when the question seemed to sober Lance’s good mood.

 

“No… I, I think I would’ve rathered watch it when we were meant to.”  He mumbled before shaking off the sadness.  “But, better late than never, right Shiro?”

 

“Yeah.”  Shiro nodded slightly. 

 

“I can’t decide what my favourite part was,”  Lance said, all traces of his sadness gone completely.  “I hope Hunk’s seen it, he’d’ve loved it.”

 

“You know Hunk?”  Shiro asked, recognizing the name though it took him a moment to recall a face alongside it.  Actually, now that he thought about it, there wasn’t much he could recall about Hunk.  How did they know each other?  What did they do together?

 

“Probably a different Hunk.”  Lance brushed off the question.

 

“No.”  Shiro decided, unable to recall much but sure of that.  “No it’s the same  Hunk, isn’t it?”  He repeated.  The claim seemed to catch Lance off guard, making the boy buffer a second before he nodded silently, confirming Shiro’s claim.  They stepped out into the night and Shiro wasn’t sure he’d ever had a more perfect view of the stars.  “It’s a nice night, let’s take the scenic route back.”  He decided, leading Lance along a path lit by the moon.

 

“You’re such a sap, Shiro.”  Lance breathed at some point, so quietly Shiro wasn’t really sure he’d heard it.

 

 

“That was fun.”  Shiro smiled as they slipped back into the house a few hours later.

 

“One of the best.”  Lance agreed, squeezing their still joined hands.  They’d hardly let go of each other all night.

 

“We’ll have to do something tomorrow too.  You like the arcade on fifth street, right?”  Shiro suggested.  His free hand moved to clutch at his stomach like it hurt, but Shiro didn’t even notice he did it.  Lance did.  He sighed, looking down to their connected hands.

 

“Shiro, why’d you find me?”  He whispered, like if he was too loud something might break.

 

“I told you, remember?”  Shiro reminded after a moment, trying not to let the confusing question ruin his good mood.  Lance shook his head at the response.

 

“Not how Takashi, _why_.”  He emphasised. 

 

“What do you mean Lance?”  Shiro frowned, entirely missing the use of his first name.  Lance took a deep breath; slowly taking Shiro’s other hand in his. 

 

“I’m sorry Shiro, I should have told right away.”  He said, voice almost quiet enough to strain Shiro’s hearing.  “But I just missed you so much, you know?  I wanted to be selfish for a little while, I wanted our last date.”  He sniffled.  “I should never have let it hurt you like this, I’m so sorry Shiro.”

 

“Lance, I don’t understand.”  Even as he said it Shiro knew he was lying.  He understood, he knew exactly what Lance meant, but he was ignoring it.  Lance took a deep breath.  Shiro was torn between letting him explain and begging him not to.

 

“There’s a house in the woods,” he started.  Shiro wanted him to stop, but he couldn’t find his voice.  “The story goes that if you get lost in the woods you might stumble upon it, and even though you know you shouldn’t you’ll go inside.  They say, the second you’re inside you’ll forget about all about the house and the woods, the house makes you think you’re back home.  It looks like your town, all the places you know, and you’ll never realize you’re actually stuck in the house.  They say life inside the house is bliss, and there’ll be something there that you’ve always wanted but you can’t have, it’ll keep you there until… until you starve to death.  You won’t even know.  And they say, they say everyone else forgets you.  Not right away, but, but by the time you die no one even remembers you ever existed.”  Lance began to cry as he spoke, words broken up by hiccups. 

 

Shiro couldn’t pretend he missed it anymore.  Around them the façade of his home broke away, revealing the ram-shacked insides of an old house.  It seemed to groan around them as the image faded away.  “I mean, I’m paraphrasing here but you get it, right Shiro?”  Lance continued, trying for a laugh and only managing a sob.

 

“I get it.”  Shiro nodded, voice quiet as the memories starting dragging themselves back.  His hands grasped tighter onto Lance’s, wanting to pull him close but not quite being able to.  Lance looked up to him, beautiful blue eyes red with tears.

 

“How did you find me, Shiro?  Why did you find me?”  He asked once more, and this time Shiro gave him the answer he was looking for.

 

“I knew you were missing.”  Whatever spell had kept him still broke and Shiro rose a hand to wipe Lance’s tears.  His cheeks were cold.  “I couldn’t, I couldn’t remember but I just _knew_.”  More and more memories bubbled to the surface.  He remembered getting the call, hearing Lance hadn’t come home, he remembered posting Missing Person papers all over town.  He remembered waking up one morning with no memory of any of it, he remembered finding a singular poster in some alley and discarding it.

 

“Someone mentioned the house and I felt like I needed to go.  I knew whatever was missing; it’d be inside that house.  And you were Lance, you are.”  He remembered getting lost, closing his eyes and just walking until he had no idea where he was.  He remembered seeing the house and running towards it, feeling like he’d never needed anything more.  “I found you.”  He breathed, raising his other hand to Lance’s cheek and leaning it, pressing their lips together after almost a year apart.  Lance returned the kiss just as desperately and Shiro had never been so happy.  Finally, _finally,_ he had Lance back.

 

“I’m not here Shiro, not really,”  Lance argued, hardly breathless when Shiro finally pulled away to breathe.

 

“You are Lance.”  Shiro counted, pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek.  Lance’s eyes fluttered, the way they always did when Shiro expressed affection.  God, how could have forgotten?

 

“I’m not,”  Lance claimed, pushing Shiro back with shaking arms when the taller pecked his lips.  “Shiro… Shiro, I’m dead.”  He managed, voice tight.

 

“What?”  Shiro asked, close enough for Lance to feel his breath.  He couldn’t feel Lance’s breath in return.  But that didn’t mean anything, he told himself.  It didn’t.  He finally had Lance back.

 

“I died Shiro,”  Lance repeated, his blue eyes suddenly losing their light. 

 

“No, no you’re right here,”  Shiro argued.  “I can feel you.”  He held Lance’s cheeks tighter, just to prove it to himself, to Shiro.  Lance forced a smile for him, the gesture sad and tears still pouring down his cheeks.  He took one of Shiro’s hands, moved it his chest.  There was no heartbeat, no warmth.  Nothing.  “No.”  He begged hand clenching at that spot.

 

“I’m sorry Shiro.”  Lance sniffled.  “The house knows I’ll keep you here, it’s the only reason I’m like this.”  

 

“It’s right,”  Shiro said, voice firm though he was shaking.  “I won’t leave, I want to stay with you.”  For a moment the façade returned, calm grey walls replacing rotten wood.

 

“You’ll _die,_ Shiro,”  Lance argued.

 

“I don’t care.  I won’t leave you.”  Shiro decided.

 

“Yes, you will.”  Lance shook his head.  “I don’t want you to die, not here.  You have to leave, you have to live.  _Please_.”

 

“I can’t leave you, Lance.  I’ll never see you again!  What if I forget you?”  Shiro refused.

 

“I’m dead Shiro, there’s nothing to leave behind.  Not anymore.”  Lance forced out.  “Please Shiro, just go.”  He forced Shiro’s hand to the doorknob, once more a mostly rotten shape.

 

“One night.”  Shiro tried.  “One night to say a proper goodbye.”

 

“This was our proper goodbye.”  Lance shook his head.  “That date you couldn’t take me on.”

 

“That’s not fair, I didn’t know who you were,”  Shiro argued.

 

“I know.  I’m sorry.”  Lance said.  “I couldn’t, I didn’t trust myself not to keep you here if you kissed me anywhere but in front of this door.”

 

“Let me stay Lance, keep me here.”

 

“Shiro, look at me,”  Lance ordered.

 

“I am,”  Shiro claimed, wanting to believe it to be true. 

 

“No, you’re not.  Look past the house Shiro, look at me.”  He didn’t want to, he wanted nothing less.  But Shiro couldn’t help it.  He blinked, and suddenly he saw the corpse in his arms.  Shiro couldn’t help but jerk back in surprise and horror.  The worst part was that he could see traces of Lance.  His brown hair fallen out in patches, his blue eyes cold and empty, his favourite hoodie falling to pieces.

 

“No, please, no.”  He sobbed, unable to keep himself together any longer.  He fell to his knees, grip falling.  Shiro felt as the house gave up, as whatever magic that controlled it let him go.  A haze lifted from the back of his mind, his stomach began to growl and ache.  Whatever life the house had given Lance vanished.  Lance was gone.  Dead and forgotten by everyone outside the house’s walls.  So desperate to cling to a dead man, Shiro hadn’t even said goodbye.  “I won’t forget.”  He whispered.  “I’ll make the others remember.”  He promised.  Sobbing, he pulled the tattered jacket from the corpse.  He couldn’t imagine carrying a dead body into town, but maybe the jacket would be enough.  He hoped the jacket would be enough.

 

Clinging to the jacket, Shiro forced his way out of the house.  The handle was too rotted to use, but the door practically fell apart when he pushed on it.  When he’d arrived, he remembered, the house hadn’t looked its age.  It was older than the town, but it had looked neat and well-kept.  Now it was barely four crumbling walls and a half-collapsed roof.  Also new was the path that had appeared before it.  If the legends were true, and they certainly seemed to be, the path would lead him back to town.  A path for those that resisted the temptation of the house, and now a path for those whose temptation had saved them.

 

“I’ll make them remember,”  Shiro repeated his promise and began towards the path, towards his home, away from the love of his life.

 

Standing on what was once a porch, Lance tried to believe Shiro would keep that promise.  He wanted to follow, to see Shiro home safe and maybe, maybe get the other to see him again, just once.  An impossible dream, Lance knew.  He was bound to the house he’d died in, his soul owned by whatever force that had taken his life.  Just like all the others. 

 

Lance wished he’d said goodbye before Shiro had seen him.


End file.
